Sony Reusing an Image Sensor in the a1 II Is Not That Weird

A lot of the conversation surrounding Sony’s new flagship camera, the a1 II, concerns the camera’s image sensor. The 50-megapixel backside-illuminated stacked sensor is the same as the one featured in the original a1 which released in 2021. While some describe the reused sensor as disappointing, it is normal for Sony to use the same sensor across multiple iterations of the same camera series.

In his regular column on BCN+R in Japan, Michikoshi Ichiro discusses the topic of reusing sensors, characterizing the situation with the a1 II’s familiar sensor as “an ‘incident.'” This overstates the situation but reflects broader viewers among photographers about what counts as a flagship camera and what customers expect from a company’s best and most powerful hardware.

The columnist explains that competitors such as Canon and Nikon regularly introduce new sensors in their flagship models dating back to the DSLR era. While that’s true and has carried forward to the mirrorless camera — the Nikon Z9 and Canon EOS R1 debuted new sensors, for example — it has not necessarily been Sony’s broad approach to its cameras.

For starters, Sony operates in a different way than Canon and Nikon. For Canon and Nikon, its camera models have always been clearly separated. The Canon 1D and Nikon D series have always been flagship models, occasionally flanked by sub-models like the Nikon D4S. It has always been obvious which cameras are for the most demanding professionals within these company’s lineups.

That is not true of Sony and never has been. While yes, the a1 landed in 2021 as the “do everything” camera for professionals who refused to compromise in terms of resolution and speed, Sony has always positioned different models as optimal choices for various types of professionals. Pros who require the utmost in resolution go for the Sony a7R series, which has used the same 61-megapixel sensor since 2019’s a7R IV, while those who demand speed go for an a9 series body.

It is also worth noting the gains typically offered by new image sensors: they are rarely overwhelming. Take Nikon, for example. The company launched the revolutionary Nikon D3 in 2007 with a groundbreaking new 12.1-megapixel full-frame image sensor. The Nikon D4 arrived five years later, bumping the pixel count to 16 megapixels — a 33% improvement then but a drop in these bucket these days. The D5 landed in 2016 with another similar increase to 20.9 megapixels. Nikon’s final flagship DSLR, the D6, actually didn’t change the image sensor in 2019, but that was an aberration within Nikon’s DSLR history.

As for mainline flagship DSLR models, Nikon released just four from 2007 to 2019. Over the same length of time, Sony created an entire mirrorless camera system. It took less time, even because the original a7 and a7R arrived just over 11 years ago.

The point is that launching new flagship cameras with new sensors requires development time Sony has never taken between its camera models and it isn’t getting any easier (or cheaper) to develop new full-frame image sensors. Sony releases upgraded models at a pace that outstrips the timelines of contemporary sensor development, which can lead to some disappointment and lukewarm reactions to new models, but enables Sony to introduce other types of improvements (like dedicated AI chips, better autofocus features, and improved body designs) into its camera models, flagship or otherwise, very quickly.

With some exceptions, the Sony a9 III’s groundbreaking but imperfect global shutter sensor among them, improvements in new camera models have decreasingly relied on image sensor technology advancements and leveraged enhancements in overall performance and usability to a much more significant extent. As Sony has shown for years, not every new camera model must feature a brand-new sensor, as improvements in camera technology are nowhere near as connected to image sensors as they once were.

Canon and Nikon know this, too, as the companies frequently recycle image sensors in cameras, even if their flagship models typically have new sensors. The 45.7-megapixel sensor in the Nikon Z7 II is awfully similar to the sensor in the Z7, which is itself an awful lot like the sensor in the Nikon D850 — and don’t even get me started on the Z50 II’s 20.9-megapixel chip. Nikon has been using this same basic design for a very long time.

The Sony a1 II sporting a familiar sensor may not follow the pattern Canon and Nikon have taken with their flagship cameras over the years, but Sony has never done things like everyone else, arguably to its advantage.

Image credits: Sony